Micro- and nanomachined cantilevers can be used in a variety of detection applications. involving the detection of a mass. When the mass is present, an oscillating cantilever physically or chemically absorbs or adsorbs the mass. The chemical absorption or adsorption of the mass changes the mass of the cantilever, which is observable as a change in the resonant frequency of the cantilever.
The application of micro- and nanomachined cantilevers in detection processes is ever expanding. U.S. Pat. No. 6,593,731 entitled “Displacement Transducer Utilizing Miniaturized Magnet and Hall Junction” to Roukes et al. discloses the use of nanoelectromechanical (NEMS) cantilevers in force detected magnetic resonance imaging. U.S. Pat. No. 6,722,200 entitled “Apparatus and Method for Ultrasensitive Nanoelectromechanical Mass Detection” to Roukes et al. discloses the use of NEMS cantilevers in mass spectroscopy. U.S. Patent Publication 2004/0244488 entitled “On-Chip Magnetic Force Actuation of Microcantilevers by Coplanar Coils” to Tang et al. describes biofunctionalized microcantilever arrays in hybrid semiconductor-microfluidics devices for the analysis and detection of biological analytes.